Efforts to contain the breakaway region of Somaliland have accelerated since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced recognition of Somaliland as an independent sovereign state on December 26, 2025.

Both Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh have pledged to shrink and encircle the breakaway region, paving the way for its re-absorption into Somalia proper.

A security source, who requested anonymity, indicated that “Djibouti has urged Somalia to speed up plans to take over the Republic of Somaliland, which has been seeking international recognition since 1991.”

The source added that over the past three months, high-level official delegations, as well as Somali military and intelligence teams, have frequently visited the Djiboutian capital to finalize a plan aimed at infiltrating Somaliland from its western side, which borders Djibouti and the Somali region in Ethiopia.

The source noted a clear breach in Somaliland’s security and military apparatus, pointing to the bribing of certain officials and high-ranking officers in exchange for facilitating the infiltration of numerous incoming fighters and their fortifications in the mountainous areas of the Awdal region.

The source praised the vigilance of the residents of Awdal, who have repelled repeated attacks aimed at setting the stage for an all-out battle similar to what took place in Las Anod in August 2023 and the subsequent separation of the Sool region and its surroundings from Somaliland, followed by the declaration of the establishment of the “North-East State” as one of Somalia’s federal states.

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